The Irish Government have recently repealed 5,782 outdated laws, many of which have been in place since Britain ruled Ireland.
Here are some of the most bizarre laws that have been done away with:
1. English laws for Ireland
The one that kicked it all off; the 1227 declaration to proclaim in Ireland the laws and customs of England. Just shy of 800 years later, this has finally been repealed.
2. Talking about Henry VIII's wives
A rule was put in place back in the Tudor times to forbid Irish people from criticising King Henry VIII's second marriage to Anne Boleyn after his divorce of Catherine of Aragon. The marriage took place in early 1533, meaning this law remained in place for almost 500 years. Finally we are all free to criticise Henry's second marriage, or even his fifth or sixth.
3. Fasting on Wednesdays
From 1665, Irish people were required to fast on the first Wednesday of every month. The reason? It was in penance for the relief of the bubonic plague in London.
4. Trading horses
If you have traded horses outside of the Pale (Dublin) in the past 425 years, you should technically have been executed. A 1590 proclamation stated anyone who sold horses outside of the Pale risked doing so "upon pain of death".
5. King of Ireland
Perhaps one of the most controversial laws on the list, the 1542 proclamation declaring that the British sovereign was the "King of Ireland" was still in place.
See More: Featured, Irish Repeals
